My problem: chicken drumsticks are very cheap - like five bucks for enough I can divide up and make three meals out of. I marinate them in different hot sauces, then I can wrap them in foil and put them in the oven. For extra dopamine I eat them with blue cheese sauce.
The other cheap options are things like velveeta with canned chicken or fish, or chef Boyardee ravioli.
I don’t like eating meat or dairy for the clear ethical reasons and would like to go vegan. I was vegan for about a year or so, but I also have the kind of ARFID where I will let myself starve if there are not those kinds of “high dopamine” foods available.
I’d like some kind of close, cheap, easy approximation. When I was vegan, I had the financial resources to buy a lot of prepared food that met that quick/stimulating need, but I no longer have those resources to do so.
The closest to making something like that work for me is soy curl + coconut milk + curry seasonings. I don’t have the capacity to eat vegetables most days - this is not healthy, but I also physically cannot force myself to do so.
I know lentils are good and don’t require soaking, but I cannot get them to taste good. Indian restaurants make them perfect, but I can’t do it myself.
Get high quality Thai curry pastes and you’re 95% of the way to a delicious quick and easy meal. Heat it up with some coconut milk and add any veggies you can manage.
Tteokbokki can be similar. Gochujang, veggie stock, sugar, gochugaru, rice cakes, mix and heat.
Lots of Asian staple dishes are built around a super satisfying and flavorful sauce, which means you can add whatever you want to them and still have a tasty meal ready quickly.
So stock up on flavors/bases you like, and then think about what inoffensive veg/carb/protein you could add.
You’ve got many restrictions around what you’ll eat. That means it will be harder work to find staples. The alternative is to die, so put in the work, and you’ll be rewarded!